I got a good deal on 175 spring-flowering bulbs -- woo hoo!

Winter is hard on anyone with Seasonal Affective Disorder. And symptoms began early for many folks in the greater Seattle area, this year. We're in the midst of Fog-tober. It's been quite dark and dreary for about 10 days now.

One of the ways that I combat the winter blues is to plan ahead for cheer in early spring, by planting spring-flowering bulbs. My long-term plan is to blanket both the front and back yards with bulbs. I just completed a small area in the backyard, and have already picked out my spot to work on, in the front yard. (I've been pulling ivy in this area, in prep for landscaping next spring, summer and fall.)

This is the area of the back yard, that I began work on this past spring.

This is about what it looked like at the beginning. It lies along the side edge of the property, just along the gravel path to the wood lot. As it's an area in view from the house, and alongside a pleasant walk, I wanted to spruce it up, but keep it cohesive with more native plantings.

I was at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago, and I found King Alfred daffodils and Darwin hybrid tulips for a decent price. The daffodils were about $15 for 45 (about 33 cents per bulb), and the tulips were about $4 for 10 bulbs (about 40 cents per bulb). Home Depot didn't have the mix I was looking for in crocus bulbs (I only wanted purple and white bulbs, no yellows, for this area). But, at a nearby garden center, I found bulbs marked down for end of season. I paid about $20 for 120 crocus bulbs (about 17 cents per bulb).

This last week, I've been spending some of my time in the garden, cleaning up the ornamental beds and planting these bulbs, 175 in total.

The yellow daffodils are planted under the river rock "stream". And the crocus bulbs are planted in the bare earth between the river rock and the stepping stones. The crocus will be overplanted with hostas, as I divide my existing hostas over the years. (In my yard, crocus are done blooming by the time the hostas begin poking through the soil.) In addition, I have begun moving grape hyacinth to the sliver of soil right along the walkway, where I have a couple of hydrangeas for summer blooms.

my tulip spot

For the tulips, I have a spot in view of the master bedroom, where I plant about 10 or 20 tulips each year. I use only Darwin hybrids, as they tend to naturalize very well in my yard. This year I found these red and cream tulips. I think they're quite cheery!

Making plans for late winter and early spring color helps get me over the hump with my SAD. I know that in just a few short months, my yard will be beckoning me to come take a look at it's cheer.

Teaching friends and a crafting exchange

a fun afternoon -- making English toffee with friends 

A couple of friends and I get together about once per month or 6 weeks, as both a social get-together, and as a teaching moment, sharing, with one another, something fun that we know how to do. We are just an informal, small group of women, who enjoy cooking and crafts.

To give you an idea of what we do: in July, we met at one friend's house where she showed us other two how she makes her delightful green pepper jelly. In September, they came to my house and we made rosemary vinegar together. This past Saturday, we met at the third friend's house and she showed us how she makes her fantastic English Toffee. Yummy, yummy stuff!

In November, I am hoping we can gather at my house, again, this time to craft/prepare gifts for the holidays. The plan is for each of us to come up with one craft/recipe that we've made as gifts before, and arrange for the supplies for all three of us to produce that gift item. By the end of the afternoon/evening, we should each have produced 3 different gifts, suitable for gifting in the holiday season.

For my own gift-craft, I'm thinking of bath fizzies, packaged in home-sewn sheer fabric bags. And as just a quick and fun item, to add on, I have some rubber stamps and ink pads, for us to make to/from gift tags.

With this crafting exchange, we'll share our knowledge, have some fun creating and chatting, and get a few more small gifts taken care of for the holidays.


If you'd like to put together your own crafting exchange, the plan for one is quite simple. Find 2 friends who would enjoy such an afternoon. Have each person:  come up with a home-made gift idea, make one sample (to show each other how it will turn out), and put together the supplies for each person in the group. Our group also brings snack-y foods for some time to just sit and chat a while.